Vantage and Getaway fares are going

[lioness]

Good Lord Brenda, that's one helluva lot of OBC even for 2 people. Especially if like us you don't do excursions normally.

[CaroleF]

We have just been notified that the price of our cabin grade on our Adonia cruise next September has been reduced and that consequently we have an extra £280 OBC - this is in addition to the £300 we already have, and then of course there is the £150 we will get for having Carnival shares! I wonder if I could do any Christmas shopping whilst on board? I don't think my husband can drink that number of Cool Coladas!

Carole

[stocktonmackem]

I am well jealous of all you lucky people getting extra OBC my cruise is still a bit dearer than I paid for it. Should be pleased that I have got it cheaper than new bookings but I think I would have preferred it to have gone down.

[david63]

Just a small point - don't forget that OBC does not attract Peninsular discount so although you are getting your money back it is actually costing you.

[oldbluefox]

Rather than getting OBC I would prefer getting the money off my final invoice to spend as I choose. By giving OBC P&O are effectively committing you to spend the money on their ship, in their shops and, as David says, you then lose out on any Peninsula discount.
As we are already seeing some of our friends are racking up a lot of OBC as a consequence of this policy which you are committed to spend (as it is effectively your own money) on something you may not necessarily want.

[Dark Knight]

Cynic alert

giving huge pots of OBC is a con, either you work hard to spend it and give it all back to the company
or you lose it when you don't spend it,either way nice profit for the company on either your spends or lack of
I wonder how much money they get back when it is not spent?

now if I had lots of OBC I would be in the Spa everyday for a massage at £70 a go and drinking like a fish, not to mention letting Lady D adrift in the jewellers and making sure I spent it, regardless

[Ray Scully]

I would set up a little business giving 10% discount for everything I bought in the shops for the other pax.

Ray

[sunsetsail2night]

I do know I won't get 10% off purchases but you have to spend your own money to get it so I've no problem with that. The cost of my cabin grade is now over £2000 more than what I paid so I was surprised to get the extra OBC. Don't usually book many excursions but will book some when on board on this cruise although I know to get 10% reduction I need to book ahead of the cruise.

I, too, would rather have had a reduction in my final payment but that's never going to happen so I will take pleasure in spending the £805 OBC. I also know the money is going back to P&O but hey - I'll enjoy spending it.

Brenda

[Gill W]

If the price hadn't gone down, people wouldn't be getting this OBC, so as Brenda says, why not just enjoy it.

I had nearly £1000 OBC to spend on Azura recently, and it wasn't a hardship.

I got a Radley bag, that I'd had my eye on before we sailed, I got some perfume, my husband got several cans of his anti-persperant, we did some Christmas shopping, had some nice select dining meals with a more expensive bottle of wine than normal, and felt we didn't have to be careful about what we spent.

People were obviously happy with the price they were originally going to pay, so I can't understand why some are a little churlish about getting some OBC back.

If you really feel you want cash back, buy a load of stuff and flog it on eBay when you get return from your cruise

[Dark Knight]

Gill
for me, I see it this way: I paid x for the cruise, they drop the price and I get loads of OBC, which I have to spend or lose
so I spend it on stuff that gives PandO a nice healthy mark up and more profit

But if I don't spend it , it goes straight back to PandO , effectively increasing the price of my cruise by whatever I don't spend, which is a con

so I like you would do my dammedest to spend all of it but would much rather have a realistic price from day one

[towny44]

Gill
for me, I see it this way: I paid x for the cruise, they drop the price and I get loads of OBC, which I have to spend or lose
so I spend it on stuff that gives PandO a nice healthy mark up and more profit

But if I don't spend it , it goes straight back to PandO , effectively increasing the price of my cruise by whatever I don't spend, which is a con

so I like you would do my dammedest to spend all of it but would much rather have a realistic price from day one

Nightie, I thought your maxim was that once you had bought a cruise at a price you thought reasonable, you never bothered if someone else got the same cruise for less. So why would you be concerned to ensure you spent all the resultant OBC?

[Dark Knight]

Towny
what are you on about? is there an actual question in there?
Whatever I pay for my cruise is what I pay..my point is this, if I end up with loads of OBC , due to discounting the cruise,then the cruise is over prices no matter what I paid and no matter what others paid?

simple enough or do you need a diagram

[towny44]

Nightie, I thought your maxim was that once you had bought a cruise at a price you thought reasonable, you never bothered if someone else got the same cruise for less. So why would you be concerned to ensure you spent all the resultant OBC?
Towny
what are you on about? is there an actual question in there?
Whatever I pay for my cruise is what I pay..my point is this, if I end up with loads of OBC , due to discounting the cruise,then the cruise is over prices no matter what I paid and no matter what others paid?

simple enough or do you need a diagram

I have never bothered about either , as they really don't apply to us
if we want all the bells and whistles, we book early
if it is a last minute cheapie .we book a few weeks before and take what we get, knowing we saved a few quid
no big deal either way.
cant see what all the fuss was about to be honest

Nightie, You said no big deal either way, in my book that should mean you're not bothered whether you get OBC or not, and yet now you worry that your cruise might have been overpriced.
That's what I'm on about.

[Dark Knight]

Towny
Are you being deliberately obtuse? its not about OBC it is about the con of giving it you back rather than having a fair price for the cruise
if I book my cruise and then PandO tell me they have dropped the price by xxx and are giving me hundreds of pounds of OBC, I am not right to think the cruise may have been a tad over prices to start with, given that I have just recieved hundreds of pounds back?

I am not right to think that if they had priced the cruise properly then:
A they would not be giving me loads of credit
B they would not have had to drop the price to fill the ship
C they would have filled the ship and not have had to reduce the prices and therefore not had to give me loads of credit back due to dropping the price

it's a self perpetuating con, which you seem oblivious to, perhaps you should be more inquisitive as to what you are really getting and not just blinded by the price and some onboard credit

[towny44]

Towny
Are you being deliberately obtuse? its not about OBC it is about the con of giving it you back rather than having a fair price for the cruise.......................

it's a self perpetuating con, which you seem oblivious to, perhaps you should be more inquisitive as to what you are really getting and not just blinded by the price and some onboard credit

Nightie,
I am so inquisitive about price and value that I have already jumped ship and no longer intend to support P&O until they do just what you propose.
But I think I am still entitled to add my two penn'orth into the debate.

[Dark Knight]

Towny
well done you
I too changed cruise lines for my next one ,as I don't believe PandO are being honest about fares and palming off people, with extra OBC, which they spend on board or donate back to the Carnival coffers is a con
I know people say it is extra spends but it is not, it is money you overpaid in the first instance for an overpriced cruise, they could not fill without discounting
perhaps if they just offered straight forward realistic fares, they would not be seen in such a poor regard?


and of course you are entitled to your views , it's just mine are always right

[david63]

The point about OBC (ignoring the Peninsular discount issue) is that there is really no problem as long as the OBC is less than your on board account as you would be spending it anyway. It only becomes an issue when you are put in a position of having to spend the OBC on something that you would not necessarily spend it on just to use it up.

[oldtimer]

I received notification today that my OBC now stands at £805 for my cruise in January - just wish I could set this against a future cruise. There is a limit to how many margaritas (Magnums make the best ever) or champagne I can drink. As I travel alone I don't buy drink for the cabin - no fun drinking alone. No doubt I will hit the shops - at least being in the Caribbean means goods will be tax free.

Am interested to see what benefits I will receive for the other three cruises I have booked.

Brenda

With £805 credit I suggest you book some excursions on board out of your OBC, and not before the cruise as you have to pay in advance for these.

[Meg 50]

about 10 years ago we booked a cruise of which the prices were desperately slashed. War broke out on the forum and we were given a ridiculous amount of OBC to 'compensate'

Yes, it was our money and we found it hard to spend it all -I had some jewellry, OH had a new DJ, we treated our table to Champers on the last night and I think after all that our final account was about 40p!


YUP, it smells. We would far rather have had the money back, but we had no intention of letting them have a ha'penny of our OBC unspent.
BUT..... better back as OBC than not at all


We have no OBC due on our next cruise cos it has INCREASED in price by £900 pp

[sunsetsail2night]

Oldtimer - that's what I intend to do as stated in an earlier posting. I will make a list of which excursions I wish to do and book them on the first day on board before they sell out.

I got all this OBC - which included £100 for paying a deposit on board for some cruise in the future, plus £150 shares benefits. The remainder was given by P&O in spite of my cabin having risen in price by over £2000. For me it's a win - win situation and I'll enjoy spending every pound.

Brenda

[Ray Scully]

IMHO

A better marketing strategy would be to give the greater amount of OBC to early bookers. This could be a flexible amount and varied (lowered) as the cruise sold. It could be time limited i.e only available for say six weeks from the brochure being out. This would encourage early bookers and not make the same dent in profits and (service standards) as the present Giveaways, with all of the OBC returning to the company. The incentive to book early would mean far fewer unsold cabins at weeks 10-12 and if there are more than desired the OBC can again be raised.
Actually the OBC rather than being stated in cash terms could be, free tours, bar credits, laundry credits.

Ray

[Meg 50]

..............

The remainder was given by P&O in spite of my cabin having risen in price by over £2000. For me it's a win - win situation and I'll enjoy spending every pound.

Brenda

Wow! So we might get some after all!

[arcadialover]

Friends of ours will have over £800 OBC and no way will they spend that. They are unable to do excursions or drink much due to medical reasons. Yes they can buy perfume etc n the shop but much have preferred to have the money taken from their balance.